WWBA (820

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

that airs a

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

Licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Largo, Florida Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000. Largo was first incorporated in 1 ...

, it serves the

Tampa Bay area The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the United St ...

. The station is currently owned by Genesis Communications of Tampa Bay, LLC, and operated by NIA Broadcasting under an LMA. It was formerly known as "News Talk 820 WWBA". WWBA is one of two 50,000-

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

stations based in the Tampa Bay area with AM 1010 WHFS as the other. However, as

AM 820 AM or Am may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A minor, a minor scale in music * A.M. (Chris Young album), ''A.M.'' (Chris Young album) * A.M. (Wilco album), ''A.M.'' (Wilco album) * AM (Abraham Mateo album), ''AM'' (Abraham Mateo album) ...

is a clear channel frequency reserved for WBAP in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, WWBA reduces power to 1,000 watts at night to avoid interference and uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

at all times. WWBA's

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is on 8th Avenue SE in Largo. WWBA is also heard on two

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

stations: 96.7 W244EG in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

and 98.3 W252DF in Largo.

History

The station went on the air as WSST on May 29, 1972, broadcasting at 800 kHz. It was a

daytimer A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...

, powered at only 250 watts and required to be off the air at night, to protect clear-channel stations

CKLW CKLW (800 AM) is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW has a news/talk format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with syndicated Canadian hosts in midd ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

XEROK-AM XEROK-AM (800 kHz) is a commercial radio station in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. It is licensed to operate with a power of 150,000 watts on a carrier frequency of 800 kHz, although its new transmitter is now powered at 50,000 watts. ...

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Its first format was

Southern Gospel music Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as w ...

. It later moved to AM 820, as it sought upgrading its daytime signal while providing local nighttime service. Over the years, it has carried

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

, and

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

, as well as a

Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

Contemporary Hits format, as "La Preciosa 820". As a talk station, WWBA once aired more locally-produced programming, but later switched to syndicated conservative talk shows. It was affiliated with

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...

. WWBA also aired a local midday show by Dan Maduri and had local sports hosts filling the morning hours. The station was also home to ''The Morning Magazine'' with Mark Larsen, which ended in December 2009. Another local talk show, Dan York's "The Tampa Bay Experience", was canceled in July 2009. In May 2019, afternoon host Chris Ingram was let go. In June 2019, the rest of the station's on-air announcers were let go. On September 29, 2008, WWBA moved its talk programming from 1040 AM to 820 AM, after it was announced that the station's owners, Genesis Communications, would be purchasing 820 AM from Mega Communications. The owners transferred the WWBA call sign to 820 when the sale closed. On February 13, 2017, WWBA became the new flagship station of the

Bubba the Love Sponge Show Bubba the Love Sponge Clem (born Todd Alan Clem, April 23, 1966) is an American radio personality who hosts ''The Bubba the Love Sponge Show'' on the radio station WWBA in Tampa, Florida, and the subscription service Bubba Army Radio. He can als ...

after WBRN-FM dropped the show the previous month due to a format change. In February 2019, the show left WWBA and moved to 1040

WHBO WHBO (1040 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pinellas Park, Florida, and serving the Tampa Bay area. The station is currently owned by Genesis Communications and it airs a conservative talk radio format, branded as "News Talk 1040". ...

. Also in February 2019, owner Genesis Communications turned over management of the station to NIA Broadcasting via an LMA. In June 2019, 820 WWBA changed to

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

1970s-1990s

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

music. The station discontinued local programming. On October 8, 2019, 820 WWBA switched back to a news talk format. On May 26, 2020, WWBA changed their format from news/talk to talk/sports, branded as "The Big 8", with sports programming from

CBS Sports Radio CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

.WWBA/WHBO Tampa Complete Programming Revamps
Radioinsight - May 27, 2020

References

External links

*
Station history
* * * * {{Tampa Bay Radio WBA Radio stations established in 1972 1972 establishments in Florida Talk radio stations in the United States Sports radio stations in the United States